It's the autonomy, stupid
by digby
It's funny, but I honestly could not tell at first if this screed about Sandra Fluke came from a lefty or a rightie at first:
Sandra Fluke with her simpering demands and outstretched hands makes me ashamed to call myself a woman, makes me want to sit this Georgetown law student down and tell her the story of Malala Yousafzai.
Sandy has spent so much time this summer and fall drumming up sympathy for her condom crusade that she probably hasn't heard about this Pakistani woman, really just a child of 14, who was shot in the head last week by an enraged group of Taliban soldiers.
I couldn't tell where the writer was coming from because I often get slammed from both sides for caring about reproductive choice and other "white liberal (bitch") causes when women around the world are dying at the hands of Terrorists/American imperialists.
However, as I read further it became clear which direction this attack on Fluke was coming from:
Perhaps Sandra Fluke might ... put down her torts-and-contracts books for a few minutes and look into my friend's beautiful blue eyes, listen to him talk about American promise and opportunity, see his brilliant teenager and reflect on the message she's been trying to sell us for the past contentious months.
For all of its superficial imperfections, this country loves its women. It gives us ample space to develop interests and skills, respects our right to earn an education, demands that we be treated equally at work and in the sports world, and even legislates creatively so we can do whatever we want with our reproductive parts.
But for Sandy, that wasn't enough. She and her like-minded friends wanted all of this, plus free birth control. They wanted to make the rest of the country believe that women were being "raped" when they submitted to a legitimate medical procedure. They screamed bloody murder when the highest court of the land said you couldn't dismember an infant and call that "choice."
Malala Yousafzai lies in a coma, because she wanted to go to school. Sandra Fluke earns accolades because she wants the government to subsidize her love life.
I think "legislate creatively" is one of the more felicitously obscure terms I've heard lately. "Personhood" and "mandatory ultrasounds" is very creative. I'm pretty sure they aren't designed to help us "do whatever we want with our reproductive parts" however.
As for Malala, it's just horrifying --- one of millions of horrors that befall women all over the world --- even, I would argue, to some white, liberal bitches. But the fact is that pitting women against women, saying one side is selfish for caring about reproductive rights while the other is righteously deserving of support because she stands against a more oppressive system/enemy is an old patriarchal game. (And yes, there are plenty of women who perpetuate it too.)
Women are certainly safe from drone attacks in the United States and less likely to be shot by a religious zealot for speaking out politically. But they are still raped and beaten by men in alarming numbers and their bodily autonomy is very much under threat from religious leaders, which means the underlying power differential and lack of full human rights is a spectrum of second class citizenry. The principles apply across the board.
It's possible to care about many things simultaneously. In fact, it's a necessity if you care about being a decent human being.
Here's the latest on Malala. She's recovering in Britain:
Cards and gifts for Malala cannot be accepted at the hospital and should be sent or delivered to either:
Birmingham Council House
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B1 1BB
or:
'For Malala'
c/o Pakistan Consulate Birmingham
2-26 Constitution Hill
Hockley
Birmingham
B19 3LY
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity (QEHB Charity) has set up an account within the main hospital fund to help Malala. Anyone wishing to visit the message board or help should go to www.uhb.nhs.uk/malala and follow the links.
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